Leh records coldest night of season at minus 13.8 deg Celsius

Leh in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir recorded the coldest night of the season as the mercury there settled nearly 14 degrees below the freezing point, even as there was slight relief in the cold conditions at few places in the Valley.

Srinagar: Leh in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir recorded the coldest night of the season as the mercury there settled nearly 14 degrees below the freezing point, even as there was slight relief in the cold conditions at few places in the Valley.

Leh registered the minimum temperature of minus 13.8 degrees Celsius, a drop of nearly two degrees from the previous night's minus 12 degrees Celsius, an official of the MET department here said.

He said this is the lowest night temperature the town has experienced so far this winter and Leh was the coldest recorded place in the state.

Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, recorded a low of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, slightly up from the previous night's minus 4.9 degrees Celsius which was the season's lowest.

The official said the sub-zero temperatures have resulted in freezing of water supply lines in many areas of the Valley, while fringes of several water bodies were also frozen.

Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, also recorded the season's lowest temperature as the mercury settled at a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius compared to minus 3.6 degrees Celsius yesterday, he said.

The north Kashmir town of Kupwara recorded a low of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, up from minus 5 degrees Celsius the previous night, the official said.

Pahalgam health resort in south Kashmir, which serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius, slightly up from minus 5.9 degrees Celsius 24 hours earlier, he said.

The resort was the coldest place in the Valley.

He said the mercury at the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius down from yesterday's low of minus 3 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Kokernag town of south Kashmir went down by 1.3 degrees to settle at a low of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius, which is the season's lowest at the place.

The Meteorological Department has forecast light rainfall or snow at isolated places in the state today, but said the weather would remain mainly dry over the next few days.